


She Was Mine

by PagetPaulson



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-03-31 09:25:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 15,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3972757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily and JJ's family had been torn apart. Could they finally have a chance to put it back together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tying the bow into her daughter's dirty blond braid, Emily smiled. "Don't you look beautiful?"

Megan's big brown eyes smiled to her mother as she vigorously nodded her head. "I look prettier than Dylan," the seven year old giggled, her cheeks a bright punk as her mother ticked her stomach.

Emily smiled, kissing her daughter's cheek before standing up from the floor. "Are you ready for today?"

"Can I go with momma?"

"We're all going together, do you hear me? Don't be fresh," the brunette woman warned, opening up the fridge to get her son the chocolate milk he had asked for.

Dylan shared a grin with his brunette mother as his drink was handed to him. "Thank you," he grinned, nodding in his mother's hold as Emily kissed his head.

"Em, do you think he should have that right now?" her wife asked, looking pointedly at the older woman from her seat. "We're leaving in just a few minutes and he'll be hyper."

"Well then you'll deal with it, not me."

JJ frowned at the older woman, sharing a kiss with her before watching her make her way toward the door. The pair had been in a rough patch for weeks now, and they were doing their best not to clue their kids in on it. "I'll call you when we get back from their grandmother's."

Emily kissed both of her children's cheeks before heading out the door, embarking on the half hour drive to the office.

"Hey Em!"

The brunette woman smiled to her friends, immediately sitting herself down at her desk and picking up the phone.

"Olsen Communications."

Emily looked around her before burying her head in a file that had been left on her desk the night before. "Jim, it's Emily. What do you have for me?"

Morgan sighed, turning his back on the brunette mother and paying attention to the emails he had opened on his computer. "Every day," he shook his head, sighing as he sat up in his chair. "The same thing every day."

"What would you do if your child was missing?" the Italian in the group gruffed, feeling sympathy for the woman on their team as she wrote down what the man on the phone was saying.

The pair looked to their friend with sad eyes, quickly averting them when the brunette woman looked up from her writing, both agents turning back to the file they had been working on together for the past two days.

"Of course," Emily nodded, saying goodbye one last time before hanging up the phone. "So," she sighed, trying her best to look happily to the two who sat by her desk. "Any new cases today?" If there was a new case, she could get her mind off her daughter.

"Sorry Em."

The brunette mother gave a small smile, shaking her head as she stood with her coffee cup in hand. "Not a problem. Less killings," she nodded, walking toward the break area. "That's a good thing."

The genius watched his friend walk past him with a forced smile gracing her face, the tears in her eyes clearly visible as she nodded her 'good morning' to him. "What are we supposed to do?"

"What do you think?" Morgan almost hissed, gesturing for the younger man to sit down. "We've been trying to find our princess' baby girl for nearly fifteen years now, and we've got nothing. With all her connections, and the look on her face when she gets off the phone every day? What do you think she has?"

Emily flipped her hair out of her face as she sat herself back down, ignoring the looks her teammates were giving her as she answered her shrilly ringing cellphone. "Prentiss."

Morgan watched the older woman's eyes widen, his ears straining to hear the person on the end of the phone. "Em, everything ok?"

The forty-five year old woman shushed her coworker with a wave of the hand, her elbows resting on her desk as she listened. "Are you sure?"

Rossi shared a glance with the men around him, trying his best not to invade the younger woman's privacy.

"I'll be right there."

Reid frowned, his brows knitting together as he watched his friend immediately begin to pack up all her things. "You just got here."

"I was gonna have a half day anyway," the mother said distractedly, her hand almost knocking into the cup of coffee she had just filled up for herself. She did her best to try and stop the smile that wanted to spread over her face, knowing that the chances it was the girl she had been looking for forever were slim. "I have to go."

"Where are you going?"

Emily looked up, her hair invading her sight as she tried her best to look at the three around her. "I think we found her."


	2. Chapter 2

JJ brushed the hair from her wife's brow, her heart aching at the heartbreak she saw on that beautiful face. "You should eat something," she tried in a whisper, her wife barely speaking a word after they had gotten home from the birthday party for their daughter.

"It wasn't her, Jen."

The blond kept herself quiet.

Emily sighed, shoving her ebony locks out of her eyes before her head laid back against the chair she sat in. "It wasn't her, and I got frustrated and upset and ruined the entire dinner."

"You didn't ruin anything," replied the blond in a soothing voice, her hands rubbing her wife's tense shoulders. "Megan was happy you were there for her and that's all that matters."

The brunette woman shook her head, angrily wiping away a tear that fell from her eye. "This is ridiculous," she hissed. "We should not have to deal with this."

"God only gives us what we can handle."

Emily turned in her seat, her eyes glaring up to those of the younger woman. "So God thinks we can handle our daughter being kidnapped? God thinks we can take the day to day pain of knowing she could be dead or be raped and murdered somewhere?" she hissed. "You know what? Fuck God."

JJ sulked, watching as the brown eyed woman stormed out of their shared study and up the house steps, wincing at the sound of their bedroom door slamming shut. Her wife had gotten into moods like this before, too upset to even speak after feeling the loss of their daughter worsen, and it was best for JJ to stay out of the way until Emily was ready to speak to her about it.

Hearing a knock at the door, the young mother of two brushed her new bangs from her eyes and made her way toward the door, her hand curling around the doorknob to turn it. "Hello?"

Emily fisted her hand and wiped another tear away, her nose scrunching as she tried to stop her tears from falling. She had cried for too long, for fifteen fucking years, and she was getting sick of feeling the way she was feeling. But how else was she supposed to feel? She had lost her daughter.

The couple had thought that after years of grieving, they could fill the void that had been placed in their lives with new children, focusing on them and their lives instead of the one who had been taken from their lives, but it changed nothing.

Both women loved their children, loved them to pieces just as any parent would their child, but the pain at knowing they were missing out on the life of their first born had never gone away.

Sniffling, Emily looked the photo of her and her baby girl on the nightstand. Her father had taken a photo of the new mother right after she had given birth, their first born snuggled safely in the brunette's arms as they got ready for the picture. She remembered JJ trying to wipe the sweat that had accumulated on her brow so she would look alright in the picture, Emily not feeling pretty the way she had looked, but none of it mattered. All that mattered was that the women in love finally had their baby after two other tries at IVF, and they were finally a family.

But that feeling lasted only a few hours, their little girl being stolen from the hospital right out from under their noses.

"Em?"

The brunette looked up at the sound of her wife, frowning and squeezing the pillow in her lap tighter as she heard her yelling from downstairs. "Jen?"

"Emily!"

The mother of three jumped out of bed and rushed down the stairs, her feet almost slipping on their hardwood floor as she ran to the front door. "What? What's wrong?"

JJ gripped the older woman's arms before pointing to the woman in the doorway, her eyes red and snot dripping from her nose.

"Who are you?"

The woman flashed her badge, taking the liberty of stepping beyond the threshold of the home. "Agents Jareau and Prentiss? My name is Amber Fitzgerald, I'm with Missing Persons. We found a woman and a young teenager at a diner just a few miles away, the girl having a strong resemblance to the images that have been produced to give the public an idea of what your daughter would look like at this age."

Emily's jaw dropped, her wife crumpling in her arms as she cried. "You found her?"

"I think we found her."


	3. Chapter 3

Emily's hand gripped her wife's as they walked into the police station, her tear-filled eyes looking around at the officers who stood near their desks.

"Agent Prentiss?"

The brunette looked to her right, silently nodding her head to the familiar face. "Hi Danny."

Nodding his head, he set his hand on his gun. "We think it's her."

"Really?" They had gotten their hopes up so many times before.

Running up to the officer who stood before the crying parents, the department's booking officer shoved a paper in the other man's face. "Finger prints, sir. From the girl."

Emily's heart clenched as the sheet of paper was taken in hand by her friend. Licking nervously at her bottom lip, she squeezed her wife's hand. "Danny? Is it her?"

The officer handed the paper to the blond before him, seeing both parents' eyes light up. "They're a match."

Looking up at the sound of the interrogation room's door opening, the teenager's wide eyes looked to the officer. "Can I go? I want my mom."

"Please miss, just calm down. Do you want some water?"

"I want my mom," she cried. "I want to go home."

Danny sat himself beside the teenager and saw how stained her cheeks were from her tears. "I need you to understand something. Your mother is not your mother," he tried to state softly, "and we can't give you back to her."

Her chin trembled as she tried to control her breathing. "What do you mean she's not my mother? Of course she's my mother! I want to see her!"

"Your mother is a woman who stole you from General Welling Hospital the day you were born. I promise you, she is not your mother."

The girl gave a pause. "You're lying."

Handing her the file, Danny stood from his seat. "I truly am sorry, but I've contacted your real parents. They're happy you're ok."

She looked up to the older man with her shining blue eyes. "I was really kidnapped?"

"And your mother is headed off to jail for it," he sighed, hating to see the pain in her eyes before they cast down to the file in her hands. "Would you like me to send them in?"

The fourteen year old tuned him out, softly flipping open the file and reading the information written on the pages.

How could her mother not be her mother? Of course she was her mother. There were pictures all over the house of her and her mom as she grew up, birthday party pictures with her friends and the parents of the neighborhood scattered on all of the walls and in their family scrapbooks.

How could she be kidnapped?

Hearing the door handle click, the fourteen year old looked up to see two women walking into the room, their eyes almost as red as hers. "Who are you? I want my mom."

Emily let out a shaky sigh, taking her hand from JJ's so she could wipe her sweaty palms along the material of her pants. "Hi sweetie," she husked, standing awkwardly next to the metal table the young girl was sitting at. "My name is Emily, and this is Jennifer."

"I'm Michelle."

The brunette woman tried to stop her tears, feeling the lump in her throat thicken. They had named her Allison. "Michelle," the brown eyed woman nodded, sitting herself down in the vacant chair so she could stare into those bright eyes of the young girl. "We're your moms."


	4. Chapter 4

Emily tried her best not to hurt at the pain she saw in her daughter's eyes as she tried to plead with the officers to just let her talk to the woman who had taken her from her home. She had stayed as silent as possible when Emily and JJ tried to speak to her, tried to explain to explain to her what was going on, but all she wanted to do was speak to her mom.

She wanted to ask her why, but the teenager was nowhere near close to the answers she wanted.

Taking her wife by the hand, JJ pressed a kiss to Emily's cheek. "We just have to give her time, baby."

Emily shakily nodded her head, her eyes stinging at the sight of her daughter pleading with the officers to be able to speak with the woman who had raised her all her life.

"Please just let me see her."

The officers held the young girl back as the woman in question was shoved into the back of a police car. "I'm sorry miss, but you are not allowed to be in contact with this woman before or after the trial."

Michelle looked up to the older man with her big blue eyes and shook her head. "I can't talk to her? Ever?"

"Emily wait!"

The ebony haired girl turned to see the brunette agent, her mother, walk swiftly up to the police cruiser outside the station, bending down to look into the back window.

"How dare you," Emily seethed, glaring hard at the crying woman in the back of the car. "Who are you to come into our lives and steal our child? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Michelle let the blond agent wrap her shaking body in a hug as she watched her mother bite the other woman's head off. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel.

The wrecked woman in the back of the squad car looked to the agent who glared at her with her dark eyes. "She's my daughter."

"She was your captive," Emily fired back strongly, her fingers gripping the car's window, feeling her fingers beginning to bleed as she clenched the glass. "She is my daughter, and she is Jennifer's daughter. What was the point, huh? What was your goal in taking _my_ daughter away? What did you accomplish from this?"

"I loved her."

Emily could feel herself losing it at the other woman's words, and she banged her hands against the car door, a satisfactory grin spreading over her face at the jump her daughter's kidnapper gave. "You don't love," the mother of three hissed, her jaw clenching. "You ruin. Do you understand what we've been through trying to find her? Do you get how you've ruined our lives? How you've ruined her life?"

The older woman glared at the agent with her icy eyes. "I took care of her for fourteen years."

" _I_ carried her for nine months. _I_ gave birth to her and bought all of her clothes and toys and crib, and my wife and I were the ones who put a trust away for her for college and the rest of her life. You did NONE of that!"

"I took care of her," the kidnapper grinned. "You were too busy with your whore lifestyle that it took you almost an hour to notice your daughter wasn't in the NICU. What do you have to say about that?"

Emily leaned into the window and felt her brow pinching just as her mother's did when she was pissed off. "All I have to say is I hope you have a damn good lawyer," the ambassador's daughter grinned. "My mother is the highest ranking ambassador in the United States, my father is a naval officer and I'm a decorated SSA agent for the FBI." She watched her daughter's kidnapper's face fall, Emily grit her teeth. "You will pay for everything you've done to us," she spit out. "And for everything you've done to my daughter."

Michelle held back her tears as she watched the police car drive away, the lights flashing, and the FBI agent walking back to them with her shoulders straighter than she'd ever seen anyone's.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this," the brunette woman husked, sharing a sad look with her wife before looking back down to her daughter. "I'm so sorry."

Michelle gave a small shrug, beginning to feel uncomfortable in the older woman's arms. "So what do we do now?"


	5. Chapter 5

Michelle shifted awkwardly in the backseat of her mother's car, looking out the window to the house she was supposed to live in now. They had been sitting outside the house for almost fifteen minutes, JJ having had to go inside to let her friend who had been kind enough to watch the kids, and Emily staying with her eldest until she felt comfortable.

"What are you thinking about?"

The teenager looked up to see her mother looking at her in the rearview mirror, and she slowly shook her head. "I don't know what to think," she whispered brokenly. "I don't know how to feel."

Emily quickly got out of her seat and opened the car's back door. "May I?"

Michelle gently nodded her head, scooting over in the backseat so the older woman could sit down.

"I'm sorry for everything that has happened to you," Emily said, careful to sit a good distance away from the fourteen year old. "It was hard for us, believe me. But I cannot imagine what you're going through right now."

The teenager felt her eyes sting as the older woman tried to formulate her next words.

Emily took in a breath, shaking her head as she looked to her baby girl. "I love you so much. Jennifer and I, we both love you. I know it's going to take some time for you to be comfortable with this and I'm so sorry, but I want you to feel as good as you can here."

Michelle looked around her, glancing over the clothing and some of her belongings the police had taken from the home she had grown up in.

She was raised only twelve miles away.

"I'm sorry."

Emily's head tilted to the side, her sad eyes moving along her daughter's face as she watched her try to hold back her tears. "What are you sorry for?"

The blue eyed girl bit her lip. "I don't know. I'm just sorry."

Feeling her chin begin to tremble just as her daughter's had done the entire night, Emily slowly opened up her arms. "May I?"

Michelle paused, her wide eyes glancing at those open arms before she finally nodded her head.

Emily was quick to wrap her daughter up in her strong arms, crying into Michelle's dark hair that was identical to hers as the fourteen year old hugged her back. "I love you so much," the mother of three sobbed, kissing the teenager's head. "We're going to try and make you feel comfortable, ok? We're going to do everything we can to help you."

Eyes shut tight to stop herself from crying, Michelle shook her head. This was her life now? Going from one mom who wasn't even her mom to two moms and two little siblings? How was she supposed to be a role model to her brother and sister when she didn't even know who she was?

"Do you want to go inside?"

The teenager pulled back and watched as her mother let her tears run down her face, never once trying to reach up and stop or block the emotions that were shown. Maybe that's where she got her strength from.

Her other mother had always got angry when she cried or screamed or wanted to talk.

"Can we sit out here for another minute?" Michelle whispered. She didn't know if she was ready just yet.

Emily slowly nodded her head, her heart breaking as she watched the young girl break down before her.

"Momma, where's mommy?"

JJ lifted her daughter from the ground, seeing how sleepy Megan's big brown eyes had gotten, and she kissed her head. "Mommy's coming in soon, ok? I need to talk to you."

The little girl nodded sleepily against her mother's neck, letting her place her down on the couch next to her little brother who laid against the cushions.

"Ok," she smiled. "You remember mommy and me saying that you had a sister?"

Megan's eyes popped open. "And she was away? That one?"

"That one. Well, mommy and I got her back now."

Dylan looked up to his mother. "Sister?"

JJ grinned. "You guys have a big sister, and she looks just like your mommy. You wanna meet her?" Seeing their excited nods, JJ bit her lip. "Well her name is Michelle and she's coming in with your mommy in a few minutes, but you can't crowd her, ok? She's very nervous to meet you two so just be calm for me and mommy, ok?"

The door creaked open, and the blond stood from the couch with the two kids, watching as Emily guided their daughter into the house. "Michelle? This is Megan and Dylan."

Michelle watched them wave to her, the blond girl grinning with a bottom tooth missing from her smile, and she held in her sigh. "Hi," she nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

"Can I hug you?"

Emily watched the torment on the fourteen year old's face and she slowly shook her head, her hand soft on the small of Michelle's back. "Not right now, baby. Why don't you and Dylan head up to bed?" She waited until the three had trudged their way up the stairs before turning to the teenager, taking the coat from her body. "Do you want to look around?"

The brunette shook her head. "I want to sleep."

She could hear the desperation in her daughter's voice and she nodded. "We have a room for you. It's been the same ever since you were born, but we'll start redecorating that tomorrow."

Michelle looked around the room. "Could I maybe sleep on the couch?"

"Whatever you want," Emily's voice cracked, gently kissing the fourteen year old's temple. "Do you want pajamas?"

"I just want to sleep."

She watched as Michelle tiptoed into the living room, almost scared to disturb anything, and slowly sat herself down on the couch. "I love you," she whispered into the air, seeing her daughter rest her head on one of their expensive pillows. "So much."


	6. Chapter 6

JJ stretched her arms above her head, her eyes squinting as the sun streamed through her bedroom window. "Alright, come on in."

Dylan came charging in the room, the young boy already able to climb out of his crib, and he jumped into his blond mother's arms. "Hi momma!"

"Morning jellybean," she smiled sleepily.

"Michie is asleep."

JJ nodded, carrying the toddler out of the master bedroom. "That's a good thing. She's probably very tired." Walking out into the hallway, the blue eyed woman saw the fourteen year old snoozing on the staircase. "Baby, why don't you go back and wake your mommy up for me?" She set the two year old down and jogged down the steps and sat beside the teen. "Michelle?"

The dark haired girl groaned.

Brushing the ebony locks from her daughter's face, JJ took in the serene look on the girl's face. "Michelle? Can you hear me?"

Michelle's eyes slowly peeled themselves open at the sound of her mother's whispering above her.

"Hey," the blond smiled, watching her daughter slowly sit up and rub her eyes. "How'd you end up over here? Emily told me you fell asleep on the couch."

The fourteen year old gave a small nod of the head. "Yeah."

JJ bit her lip, watching as the brunette frowned at the sound of her scratchy voice. "So what are you doing sleeping on the steps?"

Michelle looked up to the older woman and took in a breath. "I'm sorry."

"For what, Michelle? What's wrong?"

The teenager just shrugged her shoulders, her head shaking. "I just wanted to look around," she tried to get the older woman to understand. "I woke up and I didn't want to go back to bed. I'm sorry."

JJ ran her hand down the girl's shaking arm, leaning into the teenager so she could get her to look in her eyes. "Hey," the blond shushed, "everything's fine. You're allowed to look around, it's your house. You can do anything you want."

"I can?"

"Of course you can."

The two looked up to the voice that made its appearance from the top of the stairs, Emily standing with a yawning Megan by her side and Dylan's head resting on her shoulder. "You're allowed to look at anything anywhere in this house," the brunette woman smiled gently, making her way down the stairs. "This is your house just as much as it is ours."

Michelle backed herself quietly against the banister as her other mother sat down with them, her siblings both crowding around their parents and snuggling into their chests.

"What were you looking around for?" her brunette mother questioned, keeping her features soft as she kept eye contact with the young girl.

The brunette girl frowned, looking down at her fidgeting hands and she shook her head. "Just photos."

Emily and JJ shared a look.

"You all look really happy in them," the teen quickly piped up, looking to the two women with a smile, tears in her eyes. "A really happy family."

JJ cautiously set her hand on the young girl's knee. "We have photos of you," she smiled. "All from the first day you were born."

Emily nodded along with her wife. "You were the most beautiful baby."

"What about me?"

JJ hugged Megan to her side with a smile. "You were beautiful too."

The brown eyed woman scooted closer to the teenager and whispered in her ear. "You were cuter," she grinned.

Michelle tried her best to smile at the antics of her new family, and she ran her hands down her pants. "So, what do you usually do in the mornings?"

"Breakfast," JJ nodded. "What do you like to eat?"

Michelle gave a shrug. "Anything."

The older woman smiled, standing up and hiking her son higher on her hip. "A girl after my own heart," the brunette laughed, leading the pack down into the kitchen. "Saturday calls for pancakes. Call out what you want and I'll mix it into your batter."

"Strawberries, mommy."

"You got it, baby girl," Emily nodded, sending a grin over to her son. "Bananas for Dylan."

Dylan nodded excitedly, lying his head back against JJ's breasts.

"Remember chocolate chips for me," the blond husked, watching Emily's shirt rise up and show her abs.

Emily winked at the younger woman before turning to the girl who watched the interaction with curious eyes. "What do you like in your pancakes, Michelle?"

Gulping, Michelle glanced up to her mother. "Plain, please."

"Plain," Emily smiled, nodding as she poured the mix into a bowl. "Coming right up."


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you want to talk to someone?"

Michelle looked up to the older woman and slowly shook her head. "What? Like a shrink?"

Emily gently shook her head. "Maybe it's a good idea. I know from experience that it can be really helpful."

The teenager bit her lip. "No thank you."

"It really does help," Emily smiled. "I know it seems easier to hold it in and try to ignore what you're feeling, but talking to someone is so much better. It's really helped me over the years."

Michelle shook her head. "I don't want to."

Emily saw the small vein near her daughter's temple throb, and she sat back. "I'm not trying to upset you, sweetheart."

The teenager visibly flinched at the nickname.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for you," the mother of three shrugged, feeling her eyes sting as her daughter tried to look anywhere but at her. "You don't have to talk to someone if you don't want to, but Jennifer and I are going to be right here, ok?"

Michelle felt her body stiffen. "I don't want to talk about it, ok?"

Emily quietly nodded her head.

Hearing footsteps behind the couch they sat on, the ebony haired girl turned her head to see JJ carrying Megan in from the backyard trying her best not to listen in. "Can I ask you something?"

The brunette mother quickly nodded her head. "Of course," she smiled softly. "You can always ask me whatever is on your mind."

"You and Jennifer seemed really nice to each other this morning, really happy, but Megan came to me and told me to ask why you were being so mean."

Emily felt her brows knit. "Being mean?"

Michelle shrugged. "I guess a few days ago or something."

The dark eyed woman let her eyes downcast. "Jennifer and I do fight, just like all other couples do, but we may have prolonged our anger a little bit."

Michelle played with her fingers. "What was it about? Me?"

"No Michelle, it's a lot of things," Emily nodded. "We've had some issues build up over time, and instead of exploding and getting it out, we let it fume, and we were just very snarky with one another."

Biting her lip, the teenager looked into her mother's dark eyes. "Are you two gonna be ok?"

Emily was quick to sit up and nod her head. "We are," she smiled gently. "We're going to get through it, don't you worry."

"So it's partially about me? At least a little bit?"

Emily held in her sigh. She couldn't blame the young girl for feeling the way she felt. "Your disappearance was the hardest thing we've ever gone through," Emily nodded, her voice thick, "and it may be the hardest thing we ever go through, and we have to deal with that. But you are not the cause of what's happening between Jennifer and I."

Michelle's eyes narrowed. "But I am. You're fighting about me."

"No, we're fighting about what happened to you," the mother of three corrected. "You are not at fault here. The woman who took you from us is at fault, alright?" Emily scooted closer to the teenager and took her hands in hers. "We love you. We would never fight about you."

The fourteen year old glanced up to the ceiling, blinking back her tears.

Emily bit her lip. "You can cry, Michelle. It's ok."

Michelle lazily shrugged her shoulders, tears spilling down her cheeks. She let her mother take her into a hug and cried on her shoulders, afraid to wrap her arms around the older woman and let her closer to her.

JJ kept herself quiet at the top of the stairs, watching the two dark haired women down on the couch before she heard the front door slam open.

"Emily! Emily where is she?"

Both brunettes popped up from the couch, Emily's hand moving toward the gun safe before she saw who was in her doorway. "Mother? What are you doing here?" she asked, baffled at the wide eyed look on the older woman's face. "I told you that you couldn't come over just yet."

Michelle's jaw dropped at the woman she saw hurrying over into the living room, her eyes connecting with those of the older woman. She looked just like her.

"Mother, this is not the time," the brown eyed woman hissed.

The ambassador quickly shook her head. "I needed to make sure she was ok," she nodded vigorously, "and make sure you're ok. You and Jennifer."

Michelle took a tentative step forward, tuning out the words her mother was spitting out at the older woman as she looked into the distinguished woman's eyes. "You're my grandmother?"

Elizabeth smiled gently to the teenager. "I am," she said softly. "Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss."

"Ambassador?"

Elizabeth could see the speechlessness written across her granddaughter's face, and she nodded to the teen.

Emily set her hands on her hips, watching the interaction between the two.

"It's very nice to meet you," the fourteen year old nodded jerkily, her hand sticking out to shake the ambassador's hand.

"Would you settle for a hug?"

Michelle flicked her tongue over her two front teeth. "No thank you," she whispered.

Emily shook her head, waiting until Michelle retreated up the stairs to her two siblings until she took a step forward. "How dare you?" the mother of three scoffed. "I told you she needed time. How on earth did you think she'd be ok with meeting you so soon?"

"She needs to know her family."

"It's been a day," Emily stressed, her eyes wide. "You don't think your granddaughter would need more than a day to get used to the idea of us being her parents? A fucking day?"

Elizabeth's shoulders straightened. "Don't you talk to me like that."

Emily sighed, running her hands through her hair as she heard her two youngest kids clamoring down the stairs. "Why don't you take Megan and Dylan out so JJ and I can speak with Michelle?"

The older woman watched with pained eyes as her daughter tried to gather her thoughts. "You named her Allison."

Emily felt her eyes sting as Megan slammed herself into her legs. "Well that's not her name," she whispered harshly. "That's not her name and that's not what we're going to call her."

"I'm sorry, Emily."

Running her fingers through her daughter's light hair, Emily gave a pitiful shrug of the shoulders. "Me too."

Michelle's face burned a bright red at the conversation she heard below her. Sharing a look with the blond by her side, the teenager ran to the nearest room and slammed the door to let herself cry in private.


	8. Chapter 8

Megan played with the ends of her big sister's dark hair, her tiny head leaning over the fourteen year old's shoulder so she could try her best to look in her eyes. "Michelle?"

The dark haired girl turned her head just enough to see the dark eyed girl smiling at her. "Mmhmm?"

"Why do you look like mommy?"

Michelle rolled her shoulders, feeling her little sister pull on her hair as she tried her best to braid it. "Emily gave birth to me. She didn't give birth to you?"

Megan shook her head. "Momma had me and Dylie," she giggled. "Why don't you say 'mommy'?"

"Why don't I call her 'mommy'?" Michelle bit her lip. "I don't call Jennifer 'momma' either."

"But why?"

Michelle lifted the young girl from off the bed behind her and set her in her lap. "Comfy?"

The four year old's face broke out into a grin. "Uh huh!"

"Well you know how you're comfy right now? I feel more comfy saying 'Emily' and 'Jennifer' rather than 'mommy' and 'momma'."

Megan pouted. "Why?"

Michelle let out a small breath. "Well, I just got here. You've been here for a long time," she nodded, "so you're more comfortable saying those things. But I had a mommy, and I don't know if I'm ready to call someone else mommy."

"How do you have another mommy if we have the same mommy?"

Biting into her bottom lip, the teenager glanced away from her little sister and toward the wall they were to paint in a few days. "Maybe we can have a family meeting to talk about it," she gulped, afraid to admit that she wanted to see them as their family.

"Kay!" Megan pressed a sloppy kiss to the older girl's cheek before hopping up out of her sister's lap. "Wanna come eat food with me and mommy?"

"Maybe a little later, ok?"

JJ let her daughter charge past her before pushing open her eldest's door. "You want to talk?"

Michelle kept her gaze on the wall across from her.

Keeping herself calm, the blond made her way into the room and sat herself on the floor beside her daughter. "Ok. We can just sit."

"Can I be alone?"

JJ huffed. "No," she denied, watching as the fourteen year old reluctantly looked her way. "We've let you alone for two days and I don't think it's right anymore. I get you're upset and you're trying to deal with everything, and so does Emily, but you have to talk to someone at some point."

Michelle pointed toward her bedroom door. "I speak to Megan."

"Megan is a child," the blond mother snorted, hearing her wife tiptoe up to the bedroom door. "You need to either talk to me and your mother or a professional. Listen," she said strongly, seeing the fourteen year old immediately begin to shake her head, "your mother and I love you very much."

"Yeah, I heard all this already," she sighed.

"No, you listen to me."

Michelle looked into her mother's blue eyes and her breath caught.

"I am your mother, whether you like it or not. Emily and I were the ones who gave birth to you and we were the ones who planned to take care of you for your whole life. You were taken from us and I am so sorry for that, but you have to deal with it at some point and we are more than willing to help with that. We are going to be parents to you and it doesn't matter if you're ready for it. We are your mothers, and we damn plan on acting like it."

Michelle's teary eyes fluttered up to see her brunette mother standing in the doorway, and she let out a huff. "You might as well come in."

Emily stepped into the room, standing by the doorway with an understanding look in her eyes. "I told you we were here for you."

"I get that, I do. But I want to be alone."

"You've been alone," JJ nodded, standing up from her spot on the floor. "Now we are going to act like the parents we're supposed to be. So get up and come downstairs. You can either go out with Megan and Emily and have some lunch or stay here with Dylan and I and help up scrapbook." Hotch had given them two weeks off to try and get themselves put together.

The teenager stood and gestured to her bags. "Can I change?"

Emily smiled, knowing the young girl was planning to come with her. "Of course. Meet us in the car in five, ok?"

Michelle threw her hair up into a ponytail and shed her sweatpants. If she was going out with her new family, she didn't want to embarrass them. Pulling up a pair of her favorite skinny jeans, she buttoned the two buttons and quickly put on a little mascara.

"MICHIE!"

She playfully rolled her eyes at the call of her little sister and grabbed a sweater before making her way down the stairs and out of the house.

"Whoa!"

Michelle's jaw dropped as she bumped into an unfamiliar body, her scared eyes looking up to those of a teenage boy who stood in the front door of her home.

"Sorry," he laughed, stepping back to give her some space. "Mrs. Prentiss didn't tell me anything about the door popping open."

Michelle stood on the front steps in shock.

"Ok, well I'm Noah. I'm the paperboy," he smiled, sticking his hand out for the younger girl to shake. "I haven't seen you before."

The teenager took in a deep breath before letting the older boy shake her hand. "Michelle," the fourteen year old nodded. "I'm Emily and Jennifer's daughter."

Noah's brows lifted. "Really?"

"Long story," she shrugged off, seeing her brunette mother wearing a shit eating grin at the interaction she was witnessing. "I have to go, we're all headed out to lunch or something. But I'll see you."

He turned along with the younger girl and watched her climb into the SUV with her mother and little sister, his eyes glued to the teen and how she shook her head at all the questions her smiling mother was asking, and he grinned.

She was beautiful.


	9. Chapter 9

"Do I have to?"

Emily watched the look of horror cross over her daughter's face as she looked out to the school building, the teenagers she would call her classmates and hopefully friends crowded around the school's fountain and front steps. "We talked about this," she tried to remind the fourteen year old. "You do have to go to school."

Michelle looked to her mother and shook her head. "Can't I be homeschooled or something? Can we afford that?"

The brown eyed woman sighed. "We can, but I'll tell you what. You'll try it here for one month, ok? If it doesn't work out, we'll get you a teacher and homeschool you for the rest of the year." She and JJ had decided that the social aspect of a high school would be best for their eldest daughter.

"Ok," she nodded, picking her bag up from the floor. "You'll pick me up?"

"I promise," Emily smiled, watching her daughter jump out of the car and fix the hem of the skirt she had chosen to wear. "Have a good day, ok? I love you."

Michelle turned back to the car and smiled shyly to the older woman. "Bye."

Emily made sure to watch the fourteen year old walk all the way into the building before she drove off, but she's spent the entire drive to work worrying about the dark haired girl.

Walking through the double doors, Michelle's nervous eyes jumped from person to person, her heart racing as she quickly made her way to the main office. "Excuse me?"

The grey haired woman looked up from her computer and smiled. "How can I help you, sweetheart?"

The blue eyed girl set her curled hair behind her ear. "My name is Michelle Harrison-Prentiss," she said, still uncomfortable with the last name she had been given. She didn't know which made her more uncomfortable at this point, and frankly she didn't know if she wanted either. "I'm new."

"I have your schedule right here," she grinned, handing the paper to the teenager. "Why transfer so late in the year?"

Michelle gave a tiny shake of the head. "Just moved here."

"Well your first period is down the hall and to your left. Your homeroom teacher will give you your locker number, ok? Have a nice day."

The dark haired girl walked out of the office only to slam into another student, her schedule and bottle of juice her mother and forced her into taking falling to the floor. "Oh my God," she gasped, watching the boy bend down and quickly pick up her things. "I'm so so sorry, I didn't see you. God," the teenager groaned, rubbing her hand against her forehead. "I'm such a klutz."

"Hey, it's fine."

Michelle's eyes popped open as the older boy stood up, handing her both of her things that had fallen to the floor. "Noah," she breathed.

The dark eyed boy smiled wide to the ebony haired girl before him. "Michelle Prentiss, hey."

She nodded jerkily. "Hi."

"So you go to school here?"

Michelle bit nervously into her bottom lip and nodded, walking alongside the older boy down the hall way. "Yeah, I just transferred."

"Oh really?" Noah watched the beautiful girl set her hair behind her ears as they continued down the hall. "Where'd you go before this?"

"Private school," she answered quickly. "So what grade are you in?"

Noah grinned, finally looking away from the younger girl and out to the classmates around him. "I'm a sophomore. What about you?"

"Freshman."

He watched as she looked down to her schedule and then back up to the rooms they'd pass, and he gently took the paper from her hands. "What class do you have?"

Michelle gulped, her heart fluttering as the older boy's fingers brushed against hers. "Uh, Chemistry."

"Same," he laughed, smiling down to the brunette girl. "You're in advanced classes?"

"Yeah, I'm in advanced for all my classes except for my electives."

Noah playfully elbowed the younger girl. "Smartie, huh?"

Michelle nodded, laughing along with the older boy and smiling. "Yeah, I guess so."

He walked a little ahead of the beautiful girl and smiled at the teen over his shoulder, making his way to their class together. "You coming?"

Momentarily leaving behind all the baggage she carried, the new life she was forced to get comfortable with, Michelle smiled back at her new friend and followed him inside, her fingers tight around her bag's straps. Maybe she could have a good day here.


	10. Chapter 10

Trying her best to calm down her crying toddler in the backseat, Emily ran a hand through her hair. "I know baby, I know. We're going to see grandma very soon, ok?" She looked out the window to try and find her eldest in the crowd of students, her eyes squinting because of the hot sun shining into the car.

"Mommy?"

Emily turned and smiled at the blond girl, watching as she tried to calm her little brother down by patting at his arm. "What is it, munchkin?"

Megan played with the button on her brother's shirt. "We gonna see momma?"

"Later, baby," she nodded. "I have to drop you all off at your grandma's because I have to head back to work."

Megan's dark eyes widened. "Michie too?"

Emily grinned at her daughter's smile. "Michie too."

"Mommy?"

At this point, Emily's eyes were focused on the students once more, her hand gently rocking her two year old's foot t get him to calm down. "What, baby?"

"Do I gotta work, mommy?"

Emily pursed her lips at the question. "Well you will someday, just like momma and me, but not for a while."

Megan tilted her head. "Michie got a job, mommy?"

The brown eyed woman's brows arched, her gaze finally catching her daughter coming down the school's front steps. "Not yet, but she will soon. Getting a job is very important." Smiling wide at the teen who jumped into the car, Emily fixed the sleeve of her sweater. "Hey, how was your day?""

Michelle flinched at her mother's touch and vigorously shook her head. "Can we go?"

Emily's smile quickly faded, watching her daughter subconsciously itching at her covered arms. "Sweetie?"

The fourteen year old sighed. "Please, Emily? I just want to go."

The mother of three gave a small nod of the head, putting the car back into drive and taking off toward her mother's mansion.

Staying silent just like she knew Michelle would want her to, Emily focused on the road. Even Dylan had quieted himself down, feeling the rest of the car grow still around him. Driving through her mother's expensive gates, Emily helped her two youngest out of the car. "Go with Donny," she smiled, letting the security guard take them. "Mother should be inside. I'll be back for them around dinner time, ok?"

"Of course, Ms. Prentiss."

"Bye babies," she grinned, kissing each of their heads before turning back to the car. "Hey," Emily called, pointing to the fourteen year old who started getting out of the car. "Back inside."

Michelle frowned, closing her door and waiting until her mother got herself situated in the driver's seat. "I thought I was getting dropped off with them."

Emily shrugged her shoulders. "Changed my mind. You're coming with me to the office."

"Why?"

The brown eyed woman looked to her daughter before she pulled back out onto the street. "I'd like for you to tell me about your day."

Michelle sunk back into her seat. "No thanks."

"Spill," she tried to laugh, upset that the teenager didn't even want to spare her a look. "I want to know what happened; good and bad."

"Aren't kids supposed to be standoffish like this with their parents? Why won't you just let me sulk?"

Emily bit her lip. Michelle had called her her parent. "I used to sulk a lot," she nodded absently, turning onto the main highway. "I was a very depressed little girl, and it led all the way up until just a few years ago."

Michelle glanced over to the older woman who drove the car. "I'm not depressed."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I'll let you do what I did and let everything get bottled up. I want you to talk to me."

The teenager kept her gaze out the window.

Emily slowly nodded her head. "You tell me when you're ready, but I won't have you keep it in, ok? Do you hear me?"

Michelle quickly wiped away a tear that escaped her eye, looking away from the older woman so she couldn't see the sadness written across her face. She had known about depression, the woman who had kidnapped her having dealt with several episodes, but now her actual mother dealt with it as well? What did that mean for her?

"Hey, you good?"

Sniffling, Michelle crossed her arms over her chest and silently nodded her head, curling her lips inward to keep herself from making a sound.

Emily stayed as quiet as she could until the car was parked in her assigned spot at the bureau, and she turned to her daughter. "I love you, you know that. I know it may not make you comfortable just yet, but I do."

The fourteen year old hesitantly nodded her head. "I know," she whispered.

"And you can tell me anything," the mother of three said, her voice thick with tears. "Anything at all, whenever you're ready."

Michelle huffed, her tears falling freely down her cheeks as she looked to her fiddling fingers. "I didn't make friends," she shrugged pathetically, feeling her brow pinch as she cried.

Emily felt her heart break for the young girl. "Sweetheart," she cooed, quickly bringing the ebony haired girl into a hug. "It's alright. The first day is always hard."

"I had to eat lunch by myself in the bathroom," she hiccupped. "People noticed me, they just didn't care."

Emily let her tears fall into her daughter's hair before she pulled away, pressing a long kiss to the crying girl's forehead. "You're going to make friends," the mother of three nodded, wiping away the fourteen year old's tears with the pads of her thumbs. "It may take a while, but you will. What about Noah? He goes there," she smiled. "Did you see him at all?"

Michelle shrugged, not minding her mother's hands on her cheeks and fingers smoothing down her hair. "He's in two of my classes, but I had to spend the rest of the day alone."

"Well that's a start."

The teenager let out a shaky breath, her eyes once again averting from her mother's and down to her lap.

Emily took one look at the expression her daughter held before pulling out her phone and sending a quick text to her wife. "Come on. Buckle back up."

Michelle wiped the remainder of her tears, hurrying to put her seatbelt back on as the older woman pulled out of the parking garage. "Where are we going?"

"A little retail therapy never hurt anybody," she grinned, knowing that this was exactly what she liked to do for herself and her friends when they were down. "You'll feel ten times better."

They walked through the mall hand in hand, Emily's smile wide as she pulled her daughter closer to her. "Where do you want to look first?"

The teenager shrugged, her eyes darting every which way as she tried to make a decision.

"Well what do you think you need the most?"

Michelle's eyes immediately targeted a cosmetics store, and her hand gently pulled on the older woman's. "Can I get some makeup?"

Emily shared a smile with her daughter. "You can get whatever you want." For an hour, the proud mother of three watched as the fourteen year old made her way from store to store, her hands grabbing at whatever piece of clothing or accessory she found cute, and the ambassador's daughter was happy to get it for her. She had never seen the fourteen year old so happy, and she was going to do her best to keep her that way.

"What do you think of this?"

The brown eyed woman leaned back, concealing her grin as her daughter laid the dress against her body. "Try the blue one."

Michelle switched the yellow for a navy blue, laying the material against her and looking in the mirror. "It's so cute," she beamed, letting her mother take it from her and lead her over to the cash registers. "Thank you so much, Emily. You didn't need to do this."

"You're right," she chuckled, handing her credit card to the cashier. "I didn't need to, but I wanted to."

The teenager grinned, thanking the girl behind the counter as she took her bag, and the mother and daughter pair made their way out of the store.

Emily felt her heart swell when Michelle reached for her hand, and she gave the teen's a big squeeze. "What do you think about ice cream?"

"Yes please," she giggled, following her mother toward the food court until something caught her eye.

The ambassador's daughter felt the teen's hand clasp hard onto hers, and her stride stopped just as the blue eyed girl's did. "Sweetie?" she asked, turning to look back at the girl. "Michelle, what's wrong?"

Michelle's jaw dropped open, dragging the older woman toward a pillar near the entrance of the food court. "What is this?"

Emily felt her anger boil, her dark eyes latching onto a missing sign with her daughter's smiling face right in the center.

The fourteen year old let out a cry as her mother tore the piece of paper off of the pillar. "Michelle Harrison? Who would do that?"

"Come on." Emily ushered the crying girl toward the mall's exit, holding her tight to her side as they rushed away from the onlookers. "Come on, we're going home."


	11. Chapter 11

"What do you mean you don't know?" Emily hissed into her phone, her heart breaking as she heard her daughter crying. "How the hell don't you know if that maniac has been on the phone? She had to have had a part in this."

Kissing the top of her daughter's head, JJ tried her best to calm the shaking girl, obviously upset and scared by what had happened to them at the mall. "Deep breaths," she soothed, rocking the fourteen year old back and forth.

Michelle feverishly shook her head, clawing hard at the blonde's arms that held her. "I don't want her to come back. Please don't let her!"

"She will never hurt you, I promise."

Michelle curled into the older woman and cried into her neck, her chest heaving as she tried her best to catch her breath.

"Then you go and talk to her guards, do you understand me?" Emily felt the vein in her neck throb harder than it ever had, her anger boiling just underneath the surface. "Do you fucking hear me? I want a detail and personal guard on her for every second of every fucking day. My daughter is in danger, here!" Hearing the man on the other end quickly agree to her terms, Emily slammed her phone down on the coffee table. "Fucking morons!"

The fourteen year old's eyes fluttered open, watching her mother pace back and forth in their living room.

Emily gave a fierce shake of the head, hearing her two youngest laugh upstairs in their play room. "Our daughter is being stalked by whatever lackies this woman has and they don't give a shit! It's like they think this isn't a threat."

"Please stop yelling."

Momentarily catching her wife's dark eyes glaring at her, Emily looked to her daughter and saw her puffy face covered in tear tracks. "Sweetheart," she whispered, sitting down beside the fourteen year old and taking the sobbing girl into a hug. "Baby, don't cry."

Michelle clutched onto the older woman's shoulders as she sobbed into the material of her shirt. "I don't want you to be mad. I'm sorry."

Emily's eyes widened, sharing a shocked look with the woman she married. "What on earth do you have to be sorry for?"

"She wants me back," the teenager shrugged, pulling back to look her mother in the eye. "It's my fault."

JJ scooted closer to the dark haired pair and ran her hand down the fourteen year old's back. "How can you say that? Did you force her into kidnapping you? Did you pick your little head up in the hospital and say, 'pick me!'?"

Michelle looked to her blond mother and slowly shook her head.

"Then it's not your fault. Not at all."

Michelle sniffled. "Why did she have to do this?" she whispered, her head dropping against Emily's shoulder. "Why did she have to do this to me?"

Emily kissed her daughter's head and hugged her back as tight as she could. "We're right here, ok? We will never let her get you again."

"She got me once, what's stopping her now?"

The dark eyed woman pulled back and narrowed her eyes. "A hundred guards and three miles of barbed wire surrounding the prison she's in is what's stopping her. And if that doesn't, your mother and I will protect you. Do you hear me? We will always protect you."

Biting her lip, Michelle wiped her fists along her cheeks to dry them. "Can I just go to bed?" Her parents had just gotten her a new mattress, replacing the crib that had been sitting in that room for almost fifteen years.

"Of course, sweetie."

"Don't worry about school tomorrow," JJ piped up, watching their daughter stand from the couch. "You stay in bed as long as you want."

Emily kept her eyes on the teenager until she was all the way up the stairs, and she rested her head in her hand, her elbow sitting on the back cushion of their couch. "Our poor girl. What are we supposed to do?"

The blue eyed woman sighed, leaning back against the couch and crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe we can tone down the language around the kids."

Turning her head, Emily watched as her wife's eyes darkened on her. "Excuse me?"

"Of course you didn't realize, you were too busy running your mouth off to the cop. Every time you cursed, Michelle would stiffen up and cry harder."

The brunette's jaw dropped open. "How the hell am I supposed to act? Someone is trying to scare us and our daughter, and I'm not supposed to get upset? Are you kidding me?"

JJ sat up. "This is exactly what I'm talking about," the younger woman hissed. "Stop cursing like that."

"When have you ever had a problem with my cursing?"

"When our daughter almost has a panic attack over hearing those words!"

Emily gave a laugh before she stood from the couch. "I'm not talking about this."

The blond glared at her wife as she picked up her phone and walked toward the stairs. "What are you walking away from?" JJ snorted, moving to the edge of the couch. "The fact that you're wrong?"

"Maybe the fact that I'm choosing to go and comfort our daughter rather than sit here and bicker with you about pointless shit," Emily spit back. She stormed up the stairs before forcing herself to take a breath and peek into her kids' play room. "Momma's gonna come up and put you two to bed, ok? Come give mommy kisses."

"Love you!"

She kissed both their heads before heading off down the hall, opening up the master bedroom's double doors and laying her eyes on her daughter wrapped up in her comforter, sleeping in the middle of the bed she shared with her wife. "Michie," she whispered.

Putting down her phone and charger on her dresser, the mother of three quickly climbed in the bed, doing so as quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake the young girl. She pulled the sheet her daughter had left at the edge of the bed and covered herself, resting her head just beside Michelle's and forcing the tears that stung her eyes to flood back. How was she supposed to protect her kids when she couldn't even handle a fight with her wife? "I love you, baby girl."

Michelle's fingers curled around the comforter, her eyes slowly opening when she heard her mother's breathing even out. "I love you too."


	12. Chapter 12

Michelle raked her fingers through her thick hair, trying her best to focus on the worksheet her history teacher had given her to work on. She had finished her test before everyone else, and with fifteen minutes left in the class, Mrs. Fillard didn't want her to spend it staring off into space.

But that's all she was doing.

Her mothers had been fighting for two days now, and no matter how much Emily tried to stay calm and stop herself from throwing a retort at her angry wife, she would end up blowing her lid.

She had tried to calm both women down, letting JJ do her and Megan's nails while Emily went food shopping, and having Emily help her figure out what color she wanted her room to be painted, but at the end of the night she'd hear them screaming at each other once again.

And today had not been helpful.

Noah had been absent their first period together and she doubted he'd show up for the rest of the day, so she was trying as hard as she could to try and be as calm as she could and not break down in the middle of her classes.

Wiping a small tear from her eye as the bell rang, Michelle nodded to herself. That's exactly what she would try and do.

She quickly made her way out of the classroom, rushing down the hall in order to get to her next class, causing her to slam into a teacher walking the other way.

"Whoa," the older woman laughed, seeing the shock in the teenager's eyes. "Careful there."

Michelle gulped, helping the older woman pick up the papers she had made her drop. "Ma'am, I am so sorry."

She shook her head, patting the dark haired girl's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, honey. Everyone has an accident now and again."

Bowing her head, Michelle felt her eyes sting, hearing a group of girls passing by stop long enough to call her a freak. "Well I should go."

The smiling woman bent just enough to look into the young girl's eyes, and she shook her head. "I don't think you're a freak."

"Thank you," she whispered, nodding up to the older woman before taking off down the hall.

"Hey!" came a familiar voice, and Michelle turned to see who it belonged to just as she stepped into the doorway of her next class.

"Noah," she smiled, letting him lead her into the classroom with a hand on her arm. "What are you doing here?"

The older boy put on a grin. "Well I do go to school here."

Michelle rolled her eyes, letting herself slap at her friend's arm. "What happened to you this morning?"

"Doctor's appointment," he nodded, stealing the desk next to his friend. "Just a checkup."

Hearing a call of her friend's name, the blue eyed girl turned her head to see one of her classmates waving to the boy at her side. "Girlfriend?" she snickered, seeing the blond boy waving back to the girl in the back row.

Noah shook his head. "No time for one," he shrugged, stretching his arms behind his head and making sure to flex the muscles he knew he had. "Too many others to fight off, you know?"

Michelle's nose wrinkled as she laughed. "Cute."

After the bell had wrung and their health teacher had handed them all their study sheets, Michelle could hear murmuring in the back of the classroom. She only had a few periods left and she knew she had to babysit her siblings when she got home, along with her grandparents who would be busy doing work the entire time, and she needed to have as little homework as possible, but the noises that were invading her ears wouldn't cease.

Turning her head, the blue eyed girl saw a pair of blondes sitting close together in the back of the room, and they were staring straight at her.

"Hey," Noah whispered, tapping at the younger girl's arm. "Teacher's looking at you."

Michelle sent a small smile to their teacher before picking up her pen, her eyes squinting when she heard more whispers fill the room.

"Excuse me?"

The dark haired girl turned, looking to a redhead who sat on the other side of her. "Yeah?"

She bit her lip. "Are you her?"

Michelle gave a frown, slowly nodding her head and leaning in so their teacher couldn't hear them. "'Her' who?"

The older girl quickly turned her phone around and showed the new girl her screen.

"Oh my God," the newest Prentiss cried quietly, her jaw dropping at the video clip that was playing.

It was her missing poster showcased in the top right of the screen, her kidnapper just under her, and the newscaster speaking to the viewer whose eyes were shining with tears.

Quickly shoving her belongings into her bag, Michelle stood from her chair, her desk squeaking from how fast she had gotten up.

"Ms. Prentiss?" her teacher called.

Michelle's breath caught as a sob erupted from her throat, and her hand shot up to cover her gaping mouth as she felt those judging eyes all on her. Ignoring the calls from her teacher and from her only friend, the teenager ran from the room, her tears falling fast as passing students looked at her with curious eyes. She quickly pulled out her cell phone and dialed in her mother's number, falling on her butt on the lobby's main staircase, her hand clutching the railing for dear life.

"Sweetie? Is everything ok?"

The blue eyed teen sobbed into the phone. "I want to go home."

Emily's chest ached at the sound of her crying daughter on the other end. "Baby, what happened?"

"They know," she hiccupped, resting her head against the tile wall. "They know and I want to go home!"

"What do you mean, sweetie? What's wrong?"

Michelle's heartbeat sped up at the sight of a group of girl's in the lobby looking at her, and she almost screamed. "Mom!" she cried. "I want to go home!"


	13. Chapter 13

Emily's fingers trailed up and down her daughter's arm as she slept, those tear tracks finally dried and sticking to Michelle's cheeks as her breathing stayed as even as it could. She had jumped in the car the moment Michelle had hung up on her, and immediately got a call from her daughter's school nurse saying that she had suffered a panic attack while trying to run outside and wait for her to pick her up.

JJ promised to pick the two youngest up like the brunette usually would, both parents taking off the rest of the day after their lunch hour to stay home with their children.

"How is she?"

The dark haired woman looked up, seeing her wife sit at the other end of the couch. "Sleep is good for her right now," she nodded, her eyes flickering over to the teenager in her arms before she pressed a kiss to her head. "I think she really needs to talk to someone."

JJ nodded in agreement, carefully picking up the older woman's feet and setting them in her lap.

Emily's gaze turned to her wife.

"I'm sorry."

The brunette nodded, biting her lip as she locked eyes with the woman she loved. "Me too."

"I'm sorry," a new voice croaked, and both women looked to the blue eyed girl in Emily's arms.

Emily slowly sat up with her daughter, rubbing her hand down her back as she watched Michelle wipe her fingers underneath her eyes. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

Michelle bit her lip, her body slouching as she shrugged. "I know you said it's not my fault, but it really feels like it is. Who put those signs up? Who would want to help her get me back? And what's gonna happen to Megan and Dylan if she comes here?"

"Hey hey, deep breaths," Emily soothed, pulling the teen to her and holding her close. "Just calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down?"

JJ reached forward and took her daughter's hand in hers. "We're going to keep you safe. You have to trust us on that."

Emily leaned her head against the fourteen year old's. "Do you trust us?"

The blue eyed brunette let out a shaky sigh. "I don't know if I trust myself," she whispered, her dark hair falling before her eyes.

Both parents watched with sad eyes as their daughter got up and walked to the bathroom, Emily breaking down in her wife's arms once she had closed the door behind her. "What are we supposed to do, Jen?"

"We have to be here for her," JJ encouraged, holding Emily's shaking body against hers. "Come on, dry your eyes."

Emily shook her head, using her blouse's sleeve to wipe the mascara tracks making their way down her cheeks. "No one should have to deal with this, and especially not our baby girl."

Michelle watched her parents from the bathroom, her eyes filling with tears as she watched them share the first kiss she had ever seen from them. She hated herself for putting them through this, putting the two people who had loved her even when she didn't know them, and had done everything they could to try and protect her. What kind of a daughter was she?

"Michie?"

The teenager's eyes widened, and she opened the door just enough to see her little brother standing with his favorite teddy bear in hand. "Hey buddy."

He gestured for her to bend to his level, and he pressed a small kiss to her cheek. "You crying?"

"Not anymore," she nodded, doing her best to smile. "Why don't you go back upstairs?"

Dylan held out his hand. "Come?"

Michelle hiked her brother onto her hip and carried him up to the second floor, sure of her parents' eyes on her the entire time, before she made her way to her own room, pulling out her overnight bag from the bottom of her closet.

If she wanted to protect the people who loved her most-Michelle stuffed a few shirts into the bag-she was going to have to leave.


	14. Chapter 14

Emily let her wife kiss her soundly, her hand reaching out to grab the robe she had set on the chair beside their bed. "God, it's hot in here," she breathed as she slipped the silk material onto her body, rubbing her hands along her wife's thighs to tell her to climb off.

JJ ran her hand through her hair and caught the shirt her wife threw her way. "You good?"

The brunette smiled gently, throwing her dark hair up into a ponytail and making her way to the master bathroom. "I'm good."

Grinning at her wife as she watched her saunter into the bathroom, JJ laid her head back on her pillow. "So you talked to Amber about Michelle?"

Emily huffed, spitting out the toothpaste in her mouth before walking back into the bedroom. "I did," she nodded, stealing her sweatpants that her wife was holding captive. "She said to bring her in as soon as she's ready, and we don't have to set an appointment."

"She's going to help tremendously with Michelle's panic attacks."

Before the older woman could reply, they heard their youngest girl screaming from down the hall, and both women ran from their room.

"Mommy!"

Emily and JJ rushed down the stairs to see Michelle trying to grab her bag back from her little sister, her blue eyes open wide when she saw her mothers standing with them in the living room.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Michelle finally tugged the bag from Megan's grip and shook her head. "Nothing."

Megan frowned. "Michie was leaving!"

"I was not!"

JJ crossed her arms, her jaw clenching as she realized what her eldest was about to do. "Then why do you have a go-bag with you?"

Shaking her head, Emily pointed to the stairs. "Megan, head back up to bed."

"Michie was bad!"

Emily saw the five year old stomping her feet and bent down to her level. "What happens when one of you is bad? Do you deal with it?"

The blonde's shoulders slumped. "No," she whispered.

"Then you head back up to bed and momma will tuck you in." Waiting until her wife carried their little girl back up to her room, Emily turned to see tears in the teenager's eyes. "What is going on? What do you think you're doing?"

Michelle held her head up. "I'm leaving."

Emily grabbed onto the bag that her daughter was toting when she tried to walk to the door and pulled it back. "You better have a damn good explanation for all of this."

"Let me go!"

The mother of three took her daughter by the arm and brought her closer to her. "What is going on with you?"

Michelle's eyes watered at the look of fear and sorrow written across her mother's features, and she vigorously shook her head. "You need to let me leave."

"You think I'm just going to let you walk out that door? I don't know what was acceptable in your old house, but running away is not something that you'll be doing. Do you understand me?"

The blue eyed teenager sighed. "You don't get it!"

Emily was quick to nod her head. "You're right, I don't get it. Why don't you tell me?"

"What am I supposed to do when she comes here to get me back?" Michelle whispered fiercely, stepping forward to glare her mother in the eye. "What's going to happen when I come downstairs one morning and you all are dead on the living room floor? What am I supposed to do then?"

Emily's jaw dropped. "What are you talking about?"

Michelle dug in the bag and shoved the poster in her mother's face. "This was on our front door! Who do you think put it there?"

The brunette woman slowly took the paper from her daughter and shook her head. "Michelle, I-"

"I'm trying to leave so she won't hurt you," Michelle cried. "Can't you see that?"

Emily pulled the sobbing teen into a hug and pressed a long kiss to her hair, trying her best to hold her shaking body tight against her. "What this is is a stupid prank by some teenager who thinks he's funny. You are completely safe in this house, alright? I would never let her take you back."

"Emily?"

Both brunettes looked up to see JJ coming down the stairs, both blond children in her arms.

Walking over to the older woman, JJ handed her a crisp sheet of paper. "It was hanging in Michelle's room."

Emily glanced down, her hold tightening on her daughter when she heard her gasp loudly in her ear. It was the same missing poster that had been hung up in the mall, the fourteen year old's face smiling up at them.

"Mom," Michelle whispered frightenedly. "What are we gonna do?"

"You stay right here."

The teenager hugged both of her siblings to her chest as she squat herself to the floor, both of her parents taking their guns and making their way to each side of the house.

"We ok, Michie?"

Michelle tried to comfort the little boy with a kiss to his forehead. "I'm right here, ok?"

Dylan cuddled into his older sister's chest. "Love you."

"I love you too," she cried, her arms wrapping strongly around both blondes.


	15. Chapter 15

Michelle's eyes darted from wall to wall as she ushered her two siblings underneath the end table just beside the staircase. If someone was in their house, she was going to be sure to protect her little brother and sister at all costs.

"Michie, where's mommy?"

Michelle, tucking herself underneath the table so no one could see her, shook her head. "Mommy will be right back, don't worry."

Megan snuggled up to the older girl and fisted her pajama shirt in her tiny hand.

Ears perking up at the soft voice of her little sister, the teenager looked down to the blond girl's dark brown eyes.

"Momma likes to sing when we're scared," Megan quickly nodded before going back to her tiny song.

Holding both of them close to her, Michelle took in a breath. If her parents couldn't save them then she sure as hell would.

The door creaked open, and Michelle's sparkling blue eyes peeked out from underneath the table. Maybe it was on of her mothers who was coming in to tell them that they were all ok; that they had caught whoever was doing this to them and they were all going to be just fine.

"Michelle? My little ladybug?"

The fourteen year old froze.

"Michelle?" she hissed, flashing her flashlight all around the room to try and find her daughter. "Sweetie, where are you? Mommy's back."

When she saw her little brother get ready to open his mouth and ask her a question, she was quick to pull him against her and cover his mouth, shaking her head when he stared up at her.

Megan pressed her finger against her lips to show her younger brother he needed to stay quiet, and she leaned her head against Michelle's breast. "Shh."

Michelle's head shot up when she heard the intruder's footsteps halt, and she tugged Megan to her and covered her mouth just like she did her brother.

"I know you're here," the brunette whispered into the air, walking past the end table and toward the living room in the house. "Come on Michelle baby, I'm here to take you home. Don't you miss me?"

"Turn around."

The wide eyed woman straightened her shoulders at the voice, and she grinned, turning to look the ebony haired agent in the eye. "Emily Prentiss. Thought you scared me off?"

"I'd think twice if I were you, Olivia," she growled. "Get out of my house."

Olivia was quick to shake her head. "No, I'm here to get my daughter. I came for her and I'm going to leave with her. So if you could tell me where she is?"

Emily scoffed. "Do you really think I'm letting you take her again?"

"I escaped a prison for her," the kidnapper laughed maniacally. "She's my daughter!"

"I'm willing to let you go without a scratch if you walk right back out that door. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" She wasn't sure if the older woman could actually comprehend what was going on, never the less what she was saying to her. "Olivia?"

The older woman slammed the butt of her gun against Emily's so it fell from her hands before doing the same to her head, the mother of three falling to the ground. "Give me my daughter!"

Michelle's eyes watered as she watched her mother try her best and get herself off the floor, her hand pressing hard against the gash in her head. She quickly scrambled out from underneath the end table and reached for the brunette woman.

"Michie, baby," Olivia smiled. "Look at you."

Michelle's jaw dropped at the amount of blood she saw dripping from her mother's head. "Mom?"

Olivia's eyes fired up at the whisper she heard, and she kicked at the crawling agent's body to get her daughter's attention up to her. "Look at me!"

The teenager quickly flashed her eyes up to the older woman.

"There we go," she grinned. "Did you miss me?"


	16. Chapter 16

Michelle tried to tune out her mother's groaning, her head nodding up to her kidnapper. "Yes, I did. I missed you."

Olivia smiled wide. "Well let's go! It's time to go home, butterfly."

Biting down hard into her lip, the teenager could feel blood start to drip on her tongue. "Don't you want to speak with Emily and Jennifer?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

Michelle could hear the whimpers coming from the brunette on the ground, and she smiled nervously up to the woman who had raised her. "Well they've been taking care of me, right? Wouldn't you want to know how everything's been going for the past few weeks?"

Olivia quickly shook her head and took a step forward. "Baby, we have to go. I have the car all ready."

The teenager's eyes widened. "You have a car?"

"A nice and shiny new one," the crazed woman grinned. "It's red, sweetheart. It's so pretty."

Michelle shrunk under the dark eyed woman's gaze and slowly shook her head. "Mommy, please don't hurt them."

Olivia's jaw clenched, her hold on the flashlight drawing blood from her hand. "They hurt me. They hurt me and they hurt you because they took you away from me!"

"Mommy, I'm safe. Look, don't I look ok?"

"You're beautiful," she smiled, her eyes traveling her daughter's body. "You look perfect."

Michelle smiled, falling to her knees beside her mother and doing her best to set her aching head in her lap. "Then shouldn't we thank them? They did so much to keep me safe."

Olivia stared hard at the woman Michelle was holding tight to her, and she bent down and flashed the light in her eyes. "Thank you for giving me back my daughter," she grinned, watching the younger woman flinch from the light. "Now sweetheart, where is your room? We need to get your things."

The teenager used her hand to block the light from Emily's eyes. "Everything's upstairs." She watched her kidnapper stand to move toward the staircase. "Mommy wait!"

"Baby, we have to get going. There are police on my tail and we don't need to get caught."

She could hear a creak from the second floor, and she shook her head. "We need to call an ambulance for her."

Olivia's brow rose, her eyes darkening. "Michelle, haven't you heard anything I've said?"

"What if we call right before we leave?" Michelle suggested, cradling her mother's head in her lap. "We can't just leave her here like this." She could feel the blood from Emily's head dripping between her fingers.

Olivia gave a short nod of the head. "We will call as we're leaving, alright? Now where is your room?"

Michelle's eyes flickered up to the stairs. "First door on the left."

Quickly spinning on her heels, a cheerful Olivia's smile fell. "What are you doing here?"

JJ's dark eyes fixed on the older woman, her grip on her gun never faltering. "I'd ask you the same thing. This is my home, Olivia."

"You took my daughter!"

Michelle shook her head, pressing a kiss to her mother's head. "You're gonna be ok," she whispered.

Olivia turned her head and aimed her gun at the girl she saw as her daughter. "Shut up!"

"Turn around or get a bullet through the head," JJ growled, watching as Olivia turned back to face her. "Put the gun down."

"Don't tell me what to do! I want my daughter!"

JJ took a step forward, the flashing lights from her teammates' cars moving up the driveway. "As far as I know, you don't have a daughter. But with my wife, we have three children who you're all putting in danger right now. You've injured a federal agent after escaping a prison, and you're aiming a gun at another. Do you really think you'll be in the clear after this?"

"I just want my daughter." Olivia took the safety off of her gun and stretched her arm. "Give me my daughter and I'll leave the rest of you alone."

Michelle's face heated as she heard her kidnapper talk about her family. "Stop it! Just go away!"

Olivia's cheeks turned a bright red as she turned to look at the teenager. "Excuse me?"

"They're my family, you're not! Leave them alone!"

The older woman's brain raced as she felt her insides start to burn and coil, her anger starting to surface. "You are my daughter," she whispered darkly, never noticing the agents running from their SUV's and toward the house. "I raised you, and I've protected you for fourteen years. Do you understand what I've done for you? You are my daughter, and you will respect me."

Michelle glared up to the older woman, watching JJ out of the corner of her eye press her finger on the trigger. "Fuck you."


	17. Chapter 17

"Get it away from me."

JJ sighed, lowering her hand as she heard her daughter behind her sigh. "Emily, it's supposed to help you. Can you please just take them?"

Emily crossed her arms and glared at the younger woman she loved. "I don't like them."

"I know you don't like them Em, but you need to take them."

Emily's eyes glanced down. "I do not."

"Mom," the fourteen year old groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. "We can see you're in pain. Why won't you just take the medicine? It's not going to kill you."

The brunette woman looked to her eldest, smiling inside every time she heard the young girl call her by that name. "You know they make me feel fuzzy."

JJ shoved the pills in her wife's direction and forced the brunette woman to look her in the eyes. "I know they make you feel fuzzy and that's why I'm lowering your dosage. Only two pills will make the pain go away and your mind will be just fine, ok?"

Emily pouted.

The fourteen year old in the room shook her head, rolling her eyes at her mother's behavior and finally walking toward the door of the master bedroom. "I can't deal with this. Have fun with her, mom."

"Wait," Emily whined, stretching her arms out toward her eldest. "All I need to feel better is a snuggle with my babies."

"Or not."

The brown eyed woman frowned as her daughter walked out of her room and off toward the rest of the family downstairs. Leaning back against the pillows that rested before her bed's headrest, Emily's eyes fluttered over to the blond sitting on the edge of the bed. "She doesn't like me."

JJ let out a huff of a laugh. "You know that's not true."

"Oh no, she's just being a normal teenager and doing normal teenage things, which just happens to include being rude to and rejecting her mothers."

JJ grinned, handing her wife her medication. "Exactly."

Emily's eyes hardened as she finally swallowed the blue pills, gulping down half of her water that JJ had put on their nightstand. "This is ridiculous. Michelle is being ridiculous."

"Who's Michelle?"

Frowning for a moment up to the younger woman, Emily's eyes widened. "Right," she breathed, smiling at the memory of her daughter sitting both her and JJ down to have that very discussion. "It's a brave step she's taking."

JJ nodded in agreement with the ambassador's daughter. "I'm excited for her. It's been almost two weeks since you've gotten back from the hospital and her therapist already wants to cut her sessions. No medication, no nothing."

"She's a strong girl."

The blue eyed woman smiled gently to the older woman, reaching for her hands. "She gets it from her mommy," she grinned, watching as Emily's eyes started to water. "We have our baby girl. She's all ours, Em."

Emily giggled, letting her wife slip under the covers beside her and snuggle up behind her. "You trying to get lucky there, Mrs. Prentiss?"

"Oh Mrs. Prentiss," JJ purred, moving Emily's hair from her bandage so nothing could get in the way of her recovery. "Every day I'm with you, I'm lucky."

The teenager could hear her parents laughing from up the stairs and rolled her eyes, trying her best to ignore the smile that tugged at her lips at the warm feeling that was growing inside her chest. She had felt better in the past month than she had in her entire life, and her mothers were a big part of that.

She was so grateful for what they and her new therapist were doing for her, and if she hadn't been found that night at the diner and she was stuck with the woman she had first called 'mom', maybe she wouldn't have found happiness.

Hearing a knock at the door, the blue eyed teen pointed to her younger sister. "You stay where I can see you." The five year old had been getting a little mischievous lately, and she wouldn't have the blond blaming another broken vase on her again.

"Hey," the older boy laughed, seeing his friend for the first time in weeks. "Look at you; alive and well."

"Noah," she beamed. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Noah held up the newspaper in his hand. "I have a job, remember? Hey, how's your mom?" The entire town-more like all of Virginia and Washington D.C-had heard about the Prentiss family and what they had gone through, and the paperboy had tried his best to get in contact with them but after calling and even writing a few times, he had learned to let them have their space.

Smiling, the brunette pulled the sleeve of her sweater down to cover all of her skin. "She's getting a lot better, thanks."

"And how are you?"

She bit her lip. "Better."

Noah handed the rolled up newspaper to his friend, his heart beating fast in his chest as the younger girl's blue eyes looked up to his. "So I was thinking, if you're up to it, would you want to hang out on Saturday? I got invited to this party and I thought you might like to be my date."

The fourteen year old's cheeks flared. "Your date?"

"You don't have to," he rushed out, shaking his head when he saw his friend's eyes widen. "I just thought tha-"

"No," the younger girl smiled, nodding to her classmate. "I'd like to. I mean I may have to ask my moms, but I want to."

Noah's posture immediately relaxed. "Really?" he smiled.

"Yeah."

He quickly nodded his head. "Ok, well I'll call you later to tell you the details, ok? I have to get back to work." Backing down the front walk, Noah lifted his hand to wave. "See you, Michelle."

Her eyes quickly widened. "I don't go by that anymore."

Noah's face fell into a frown, and he made his way back to the front door of the biggest house in town. "What do you mean?"

"There's a lot of bad that goes with Michelle and her past," she shrugged. "I don't want to be Michelle anymore."

Taking in the words of the younger girl, Noah stuck his hand out to her. "Well I'm Noah Evans," the teenager smiled, doing his best to make the brunette feel as comfortable as she could. "And you are?"

Shaking hands with the older boy, she grinned. "Allison Prentiss," the fourteen year old stated strongly. "It's nice to meet you."


End file.
